BJP President Amit Shah slammed Congress party on Sunday in an election rally in Chhattisgarh, saying that the Congress party finds a revolution in Left-Wing extremism while the BJP’s revolution lies in developmental works.

Alluding to the remark made by Congress’ Raj Babbar of calling Naxalism a ‘revolution’, Shah excoriated him in a public meeting in Ambagarh Chowki town in Rajnandgaon district. “A Congress leader yesterday described Naxalism as a revolution and said that Maoists were engaged in revolution.”, he said.

Asking Congress to clarify its stand, Shah asked, “I want to ask the Congress chief to make his stand clear on Naxalism. Your leader called it a revolution. What is your stand? Congress thinks of the prevailing Naxalism as a revolution. The Congress president should specify to the country what type of revolution they are advocating. For the BJP, the revolution lies in development — alleviating hunger among the poor, ensuring free healthcare, supporting farmers, and creating a progressive state under the leadership of Raman Singh.”

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Earlier Raj Babbar had sparked controversy during a press conference held in Raipur on Saturday when he had said Naxals had launched a “revolution” which cannot be stopped through guns, and the menace should be resolved through talks.

Shah further asserted that revolution does not come through Naxalism or by indulging in the act of violence and by bullets or bombs (but) revolution takes place when cattle were distributed among poor women to bring white revolution and milk revolution.

Hailing Raman Singh’s efforts in curbing Naxalism in Chhattisgarh, Shah also assailed Congress President Rahul Gandhi for not understanding what revolution truly means. Taking a dig at him, Shah said that for Rahul Gandhi Chhattisgarh is a tourist spot where he comes every once in a while for a picnic. Shah also said that the Congress has ruled in the country and the state for 55 years, yet there was no visible development in the Chhattisgarh State.

Acclaiming Raman Singh and PM Modi as the twin engines of growth, Shah said that the BJP aims to transform Chhattisgarh into growing states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka under the ‘Nava Chhattisgarh’ approach as adopted by the Raman Singh government.

Extolling about Chhattisgarh’s growth, Shah said that the state has seen a 10-fold increase in its budget in the last 15 years, no other state in the country has witnessed such a remarkable growth trajectory. Chhattisgarh has become a power-surplus state under Raman Singh and supplying electricity to other states.

However, the scourge of Naxalism continues to haunt Chhattisgarh. A few days back, Naxals attacked a patrolling vehicle in which 2 CRPF and a Doordarshan cameraman perished. Before that, some unknown Naxalites barged into BJP leader Nandlal Mudami’s residence and severely injured him. Naxals also tried to blow up a bullet-proof bunker vehicle in which 4 CRPF personnel were martyred and 2 were seriously injured. In such a scenario, calling it a revolution is akin to adding fuel to the fire. The Congress leaders should consider the implications of their loose talks about Naxalism, especially in states which are searing with this menace.

In the coming months, we can certainly expect several comments from SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati against Rahul Gandhi and Congress' overall strategy to consolidate upper caste votes.